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decision making
You rate a choice as better after you have already made it.
A 1956 study demonstrated that participants immediately increased their preference for a chosen item and decreased it for a rejected one.
Post-decision dissonance reduction acts as an internal rationalization tool. You cannot change your choice once made, so you change your attitude to maintain consistency. You convince yourself you made the perfect decision to resolve the discomfort of uncertainty.
You manufacture your own preference to avoid the regret of doubt.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Brehm (1956), Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology
- What the check found
- Brehm (1956) is the foundational study for post-decision dissonance. While the provided text lacks a quote, the study is well-established in psychological literature.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.